Pam explores local knitting groups and yarn shops, critiques patterns and shares her wisdom on techniques for improving your craft.

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Monthly Archives: February 2014

She started out as a Marianne Pottery Barn Gotz doll. She’s the doll I fell in love with last week and stayed up till nearly 1 a.m. on Saturday morning to bid on. Then she appeared to be lost in shipping at the Bell Gardens USPS sorting station. If you want to read horror stories about the USPS, google Bell Gardens, CA USPS. I was very concerned yesterday.

Meet the whole family. Can you figure out which one is Kim? (Top row, left).

But she arrived safe and sound today, and I immediately dressed her and warmed her up. Now she’s getting acquainted with the rest of the family. And I’ve named her “Kim.” I was sort of tempted to name her “Pam,” but that was just too egotistical.

I have such a nice collection of models now. Remind me that I don’t need any more.

For the real estate editor, there is no more intense week of the year than the week that your newspaper decides to honor the state association of Realtors honorees. In NJ, that’s the Realtors who win the Circle of Excellence awards, and for Gannett (NJ Press Media), that’s this weekend.

You may have seen Jessie modeling this hoodie on Ravelry or in an earlier post here before the sweater was finished. Here’s Rosemary, with the finished hoodie, hood down.

And as the real estate editor of the Courier News, Home News Tribune and Daily Record, that means I have three Circle of Excellence awards sections to do. Plus, I have a regular real estate section for the Home News. So I am working very intensely this week, and you probably are not going to see me blog again until Sunday.

However, I have been sneaking some knitting time in the last couple of days, and I have a lot to show for it. First, I finished the hoodie that I was making for the dolls, and then I finished the Aran cardi with diamonds, which I think is the best design I’ve done so far. I am sharing these photos with you so you can enjoy them, but I’m not releasing any patterns of them here or anywhere, at least not for a while. I’m really too busy right now to go through all the hassle of writing them up.

And here’s Rosemary with the hood up (not easy to get all her hair in there) talking to Marilyn, who is looking very Irish with her red hair, Aran sweater and green overalls.

Stay warm in the arctic blast we’re having and stay safe in the snow, which should be here early next week. And speaking of next week, I have to start a prayer shawl. Anyone have a pattern to suggest that is beautiful but doesn’t require total concentration? Preferably in bulky yarn?

My friend Linda suggested a pattern a while back that had a name like Storm Clouds and it only required two skeins of Lion Brand Homespun. I have two skeins of that yarn in an aqua-and-white colorway that would be perfect for that pattern. If I can find that yarn, maybe that’s what I’ll do.

I’ve mentioned a few times that I bought a redheaded doll who reminds me a lot of my late Aunt Marilyn. I’ve been keeping her in the hope chest at the foot of my bed because I couldn’t decide what to do with her. Someone cut off her bangs before I bought her on eBay, and I didn’t know if I would shave off her rooted hair and get her a wig or what.

My newest doll is Marilyn, named for my mom’s late sister, who also was a redhead. She looks even cuter in person.

Well, for the time being, I’ve decided to keep her just as she is. I cut the remaining little hairs, which look a bit like a brush, as close to her head as I can, and I’ve draped her long tresses through and over them, so that the cut bangs are hardly noticeable. She is adorable (Yes, I am biased), and she looks even cuter now that I have dressed her in a white T-shirt and some green overalls that I bought on eBay at about the same time I purchased her. Then I put the white Aran cardigan over the overalls, and she looks warm and cozy. Good thing, because we’re going to have snow tomorrow.

This picture doesn’t do Marilyn justice. Her hair is bright strawberry blond, and her face has a lot more pink in it than is showing in this picture.

Marilyn sits with her new sisters, Rosemary and Jessie.

The doll I bid on the other night at nearly 1 a.m. is a brunette version of Marilyn. In fact, I bought Marilyn as kind of an insurance doll, in case I didn’t win the brunette, I would have this one and could put a brunette wig on her. But now I have two. I don’t really need two, but it’ll be fun having them both.

The girls don’t seem to mind having another girl in the family, even if it means they have to share outfits with yet another person. I am knitting away as fast as I can.

That multicolored sock yarn I bought at A.C. Moore last Monday has been calling my name for days. I had told myself that I wouldn’t use it until I finished the Satin Sport hoodie that I’ve been working on, but yesterday, I just couldn’t resist the temptation anymore.

I cast on this side-ways cardigan for the dolls on Sunday afternoon. It sure is loud!

I’ve learned that when you are inspired to create something, it’s usually a good idea to go with the inspiration and do it. If you wait too long, you’ll get enthusiastic about something else and forget about the original project.

This is as far as I got so far. It’s pretty colorful, isn’t it? I like to think the colors will appeal to a little girl. They certainly appeal to me, although now that I’ve got this much done, I’m not sure this is the best design I could come up with for this yarn. No matter. I have plenty more. And I am looking forward to seeing what the final sweater will look like. I hope I can find some brown pants for one of the girls to wear with it.

Jessie is going to look fetching in this hoodie, once it’s finished.

After dinner last night, instead of returning to this sideways sweater, I decided to get back to the hoodie. During Downton Abby, I finished the sleeves, and this morning, I got about halfway through the hood. Then I have to do the button plackets. Jessie has been acting as my model, and she’s getting excited about getting this project finished. I am, too. I love the spring colors, although with the snow we’re supposed to get this week, it will provide some warmth, too. Or should I say, the illusion of warmth?

Other than that, I am checking out all my new yarns, contemplating what to make with them, where to store them, and why I should NOT buy more yarn for a long time. Think I can hold out until the Wool Walk in April? I think it’s possible.

I had dinner with my friend Lynne last night. Lynne knits with a couple of prayer shawl groups, and she was telling me that the group at the church she belongs to has an urgent need for lap robes, so she is crocheting up a storm. She said that while she likes the stuff I’m doing with dolls, she has more urgent needs right now. It got me to thinking.

Actually, a few days ago, I started the sign-ups in the Prayer Shawl Knitters and Crocheters group on Ravelry for our annual “40 Shawls in 40 Days” project. This is an activity for people who want to commit themselves to completing a prayer shawl during Lent. It’s been a popular project for several years, and we always get at least 80 shawls before it’s all done. The shawls go to the local ministries of the knitters and crocheters. It’s really more about the comraderie of making shawls and praying together. I haven’t made a prayer shawl in probably 6 months. I’ve got to get up in the attic and find some nice bulky yarn to use up for this project.

So far, we have 16 people signed up. We still have more than a week before Ash Wednesday. I am sure we’ll have more than 40 signed up before it’s all over.

He’s pretty pleased with it. Finally, he has a sweater of his own and doesn’t have to borrow stuff from the girls, turn it backwards, and wear it. That high neck in the front of some of those backwards sweaters was getting uncomfortable.

After work yesterday, I went to the A.C. Moore in East Brunswick and hit the millends bins and got some great yarn from Canada that I’ve never seen before. It could have been from Spinrite, but it wasn’t in the type of bag I’m used to from them.

Sam says he wants hoodies in these yarns, please.

It has cream and gray skeins and a red-blue-and-gray skein. Both should make excellent hoodies for Sam. First, though, I want to finish up the pink-and-green hoodie that I’ve already got on the needles for the girls. I might put that on the new doll when she comes.

I’ve been meaning to tell you that I have found two really useful collections of patterns from a yarn company that are good not only for dolls but for learning new garment constructions. Think of doll clothes as swatches for adult-size sweaters. These two collections are all miniature sweaters, designed with dolls in mind, but you may need to adjust the stitch counts to better fit your own doll.

The 10 free patterns are available as two pdfs, Prairie Doll Sweaters Part 1 and Prairie Doll Sweaters Part 2 from Willow Yarns. You can find them in the Patterns section of Ravelry and on www.willowyarns.com. The Part 1 pdf has a front-wrap cardigan, circular sweater, raglan, funnel-neck pullover and a frock. The Part 2 pdf has a v-neck vest, waterfall (or drape) cardigan, a basic pullover, a yoke cardigan and a shawl-collar pullover. Rae Blackledge designed all 10 of these patterns.

Family portrait, or “I want that sweater”?

I guess I’d better get started on some of these new patterns. The girls are eyeing Sam’s sweater as though they’re going to try to take it when he’s not looking.

Well, I was up at quarter-to-1 this morning so I could make the final bid on the doll I wanted. I guess nobody else was that crazy because I won the auction, and I got the doll for less than my self-imposed limit. What I’m going to do with another doll, I don’t know, but I also knew that if I did not at least try to win the auction, I’d really be sorry. So I gave in and did it.

Now I have to wait a week or so for the doll to arrive. But at least the little redhead I bought doesn’t have to get a brown wig. Not sure what I will do with that doll either. She’s awfully cute, but I don’t want to get too attached to her. We’ll have to see.

If I had the time, I think I would volunteer to be a Big Sister to a little girl who loves to play with dolls. However, I don’t have that kind of time these days. I did that once, before I was married, when I was living in Massachusetts. It can be very rewarding if done properly. You just have the time to commit and a heart big enough to make a difference.

Anyway, I am now taking a closer look at some of the other yarns I bought at A.C. Moore on Monday. In addition to the millends, I bought two bags on the clearance rack that appeared to be the same yarn as the millends I was using for the top-down raglans. I was pretty excited because I have a few remnants of odd colors in that raglan yarn, and these clearance bags appeared to match. They were yarns that had been on the A.C. Moore shelves, but they’d lost their wrappers and had gotten tangled, so they were being offered for half price.

It turns out that the first clearance bag was Bernat Mosaic, which I think is 100% acrylic, and although it matches in colors pretty well, it has a completely different feel to it. No wool in it. It’s also thicker. There is plenty of yarn in this skein to use on its own for doll sweaters, and I will definitely do that, but it’s not going to work with the other yarn I’d been using.

The second bag turns out to be two tangled skeins of Lion Brand Amazing. Again, not the right yarn, but I definitely will use it, probably for the dolls. I have a bag of other orphan skeins of Amazing somewhere, orphans from Michaels and Walmart that I have acquired in similar clearance sales. It’s pretty yarn and I like the color changes. I ought to start doing something with it.

Last night, to my horror, I realized that just as I was ready to bind off the first sleeve on poor Sam’s first sweater, I had to rip it out instead. I had used size 4 needles on the sleeve and I should’ve used size 3. The sleeve was way too wide. I kept trying to talk myself into using it, but in the end, I couldn’t. It looked like one of those Portuguese fisherman blouses with the big puffy sleeves…or maybe the old Greek folk outfits that also have big puffy sleeves. Not the look you want on a gansey sweater. I ripped it out and redid it on the size 3s before I went to bed. It came out fine. Now I have to do the other sleeve and the collar and Sam will finally have a sweater of his own.

In this guest review, Janice Davey tells what impressed her about a new book from Interweave, “Rustic Modern Crochet.”

Rustic Modern Crochet is a new book of dynamic patterns from Yumiko Alexander

The title of this book Rustic/Modern says it all. I love an oxymoron. It signals I am in for a treat. I might also call Rustic/Modern — Hard Work/Incredible Talent.

This book contains, four scarves, two shawls, one pair of leg warmers, one hat and multiple shrugs, capelets, and wraps. Yumiko’s designs are attractive and their construction unique. She designs crochet garments which are very adaptable and have an upscale silhouettes. All of these garments work on multiple body types. This book is available on the Interweave.com site and is currently in stock and on sale for $17.36. It is usually sells for $22.99. The book is also available as an ebook.

All of these designs are beautifully photographed and named after their organic inspiration. Each crocheted piece includes at least three photographs to give the reader a complete view of the beauty of each piece as a whole and at the stitch level. My two start-itis (must begin now!) garments in the book are Shale Tiers, and Sand and Shells.

The Shale Tiers cape is good for all body types.

Shales Tiers is a simple, but refined looking Infinity type collar that drapes into a capelette bottom. Very elegant and cozy at the same time. The stitches are simple enough to show off your favorite yarn and the design makes it a wardrobe statement piece. This piece reminds me of something a high priced boutique would sell. Clean lines, beautiful fabric, nice drape, beautiful on all body types. If you had to describe it stitchwise you’d say plain, but wearing the piece brings a little extra urban sophistication to the wearer.

Sand and Shells is a poncho-shaped piece which is constructed of two rectangles and a trapezoid. The results are fabulous. Each piece showcases a different stitch which adds to the delicacy of its lacy look. The crochet is on the diagonal, so the drape is emphasized. You could wear this piece as a daytime cover up to the beach and out on the town in the evening. It is that versatile.

This Sand-and-Shells piece combines different textures for an elegant effect.

While Shale Tiers and Sand and Shells are clearly runway items, the other patterns should not be over looked. Each design has its own unique spin, whether it is a stitch turned on its side, or a thin lace-weight yarn combined with a large hook for an open fabric.

The Bridges design gives us a design in the negative space in the absence of a circle. The Sea Glass scarf is great textural layering piece as is the Lacey Shoals scarf. The Pearls shrug is both a daytime and evening piece with great stitch interest. The Sand Dollar wrap takes and standard Mobius and replaces the twist with a group of interlocking crochet chains. Even the fingerless gloves, Lace Reflections, offer high contrast stitch patterning and colors. There is a subtlety in these designs that appeal to the imagination and make you want to see how they are made and then make them because they are so wearable.

The instructions in Rustic Modern Crochet are clearly written and there is a lot of white space. These patterns have room to breathe on the page. There are charts and graphs as well. Yumiko writes a small forward for each design explaining what she likes about the stitch or what inspired her to create the design. She has a very fresh viewpoint. All of the patterns contain a helpful note box explaining what to do first, how the garment is begun, how the pieces relate and finishing tips. Yumiko also offers suggestions on switching yarn weights and how a garment can be changed for a different look.

Full disclosure, Yumiko Alexander and her designs have been on my radar and my to do list since her Warm Earth pamphlet designing days She also designs knitwear and has created more than 100 designs.

I first came across her work on Ravelry when I saw the DanDoh scarf. A free crochet and knitting and crochet pattern she wrote for gifting to the survivors after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2001. A Hug for Japan it was called. According to the pattern listing, Japanese people believe handmade items are very valuable and special. I couldn’t agree more.

Before I confess, I just want to say that if you are bored reading about my knitting, stay tuned anyway. Janice Davey has written a guest review for me of a new crochet book, and as soon as I get the publicity photos for it (which I hope to have today), the review will be going live. It’s already in the system.

In the meantime, I’m coming face to face with some of my failed expectations about myself. If I have to do it, there’s no reason why you don’t have to. ;D

When I started this doll project, it was supposed to be a new way to use up resources I already have. It wasn’t supposed to be an excuse to buy more yarn. In fact, as I went through the house and identified stuff in my stash that would work for dolls, I was astounded at how much appropriate yarn I had. As I found more and more, it piled up in my living room, mostly on the couch and the floor. It was a mess, and my son was very good at biting his lip, but I know his respect for me was going downhill because of it.

Finally, last week, I took most of the yarn into the family room, where we have two bureaus with six drawers each, and I found enough empty space in the bureaus to stow all that yarn. It’s better for the yarn, and better for the living room.

Here’s Jessie holding one of the skeins of the multicolored sock yarn on her lap. She is wearing the style of sweater that I want to use this yarn for.

But this week was my birthday, and I had a really good coupon for A.C. Moore. On Monday, I was on my way home from Mom’s in Madison, so I went home through New Providence and west on Route 22 so I could go to the A.C. Moore in Watchung. I told myself I was just going to get some Springfield doll shoes. But of course, I checked out the shelves of millends yarn and bought some. In fact, I bought a lot. Most of it was Simply Soft gray heather and Victorian Rose and there was also a bag of royal blue Simply Soft. That’s not for the dolls And I think I got some Bernat Satin mill ends in ecru for more fisherman sweaters for the dolls. But the really exciting yarn, the stuff that has my mind racing with creative possibilities, is a bag of multicolored sock yarn. This is a one-pound bag of yarn from Turkey. I will use some of it to make the sideways sweaters, but I will use it for other types of sweaters, too. It’s so perfect, I can’t believe it.

Sam is sitting for a test-fitting of his new sweater

The perfect, multicolored sock yarn is going to have to wait a bit longer for me to use it, though. After all the stuff I’m working on that I showed you yesterday, I have to finish some things before I start another project. Here’s a picture of Sam, sitting patiently as I test the fit for his new sweater.

The last thing I am confessing in this post is that my doll-buying has started again. This time, I’m buying Gotz dolls. Yesterday, a redhead I bought on eBay arrived. She is adorable. The scuffs cleaned up right away on the legs with the Mr. Clean eraser (love that thing), but she has a remaining flaw: somebody cut her bangs off, leaving a small brush of tiny hairs that I can’t remove at the top of her forehead.

I love the doll as a redhead because she reminds me of my late Aunt Marilyn, but I had sort of promised myself that I would keep my family of dolls all brunettes. And truth be told, I bought this redhead not only because she was cheap and looked like Marilyn but also because I have fallen in love with another Gotz doll with brown hair and eyes on eBay with a similar face. The redhead was a buy-it-now doll. The brunette is a Marianne from the Gotz series sold at Pottery Barn, but she’s been in a week-long auction that ends tonight. And she’s attracted a lot of interest. I figured if I don’t win the auction, I can get a brown wig for the redhead. Or not. I can’t decide.

All this buying is not doing my budget any good. I have had some interesting insights about emotions this week as I contemplate whether I really ought to buy this sixth doll or not. Right now, they’re a little too personal to share, though. I haven’t made any decisions yet, and perhaps the decision will be made for me. I think what will probably happen is that I will decide on a certain limit and not bid past that. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Last week, I took time out from the doll knitting to make Alex a gray hat. Simply Soft yarn on Addi needles. What could be wrong with that? Knitting for my son, after all, has always been like knitting for a real-life doll, ever since he was a little baby.

It threw my rhythm off, but I was glad to do it, and it’s gratifying to see him wear the new hat all the time now. I think the green one he’s been wearing for most of the winter really needs a run through the washing machine anyway.

I say it threw off my rhythm, though, because until now, I have been getting a couple of doll garments (sometimes three) done each week. Last week, the only thing I finished was the hat. I worked on other projects but didn’t finish them. Then, over the weekend, I cut Sam’s hair, and now I’ve put the girls’ projects on hold to quickly knit Sam a sweater of his own.

This gansey sweater is based on a design from Deb Denaire, who is the moderator of the Gotz Dolls group on Ravelry.

So here are the things currently on my needles. First, Sam’s sweater is a gansey sweater designed by Deb Denair (Debonair on Ravelry) called Yukon in Bernat Designer Sport. It buttons down the back, so it looks like a pullover but is much easier to get on the doll. This morning, I finished the body of the sweater before work. The sleeves neck and buttons are left to do. Oddly enough, the yarn, color matches Sam’s body canvas perfectly. This was not intentional, and I’m wondering now if I chose the wrong yarn.

This project will eventually be a hoodie for one of the girls.

Second, I’m working on a hooded pullover in Bernat Satin Sport, in a colorway that includes a range of pastels, including pink and mint green. I love the colorway. So far, I have finished the body, but I still have the sleeves, hood and button plackets to do.

This new Aran cardigan is almost done, and I think it’s the best one yet.

A couple of weeks ago, I sold my first sweater, which happened to be the second Aran cardigan I made. To replace it, I started another one, and for the heck of it, I decided to make it bigger. I like the larger fit, actually, but it’s using up a bit more yarn (no surprise there), so I think I will end up making two sizes of the Aran sweater for selling. I’ll price them differently. Also, the bigger sweater is taking a bit longer to knit. I just have the button plackets to do, but I knitted the collar in a slightly lighter-weight yarn, and I’m not sure if I like it. I’m thinking I’ll probably rip the collar out and redo it before I get to the button plackets.

My test swatch is pretty small, but I want to turn this yarn into a coat or parka for one of the girls.

In addition, I am test-swatching some Lion Brand yarn I picked up at a Walmart clearance sale. I’d like to knit this yarn up into one or two winter coats for the girls, possibly trimmed with Lion Brand Fun Fir. I have the Fun Fin brown and in black. Maybe one can be a parka and one can be a coat. Who knows? First, I have to figure out the gauge and needles. I haven’t gotten very far with the test swatch.

I wanted to create a Fair Isle/Nordic sweater without thinking it through very clearly. Bad idea.

And finally, I have that blue-and-yellow stranded sweater that I will probably frog back to the selvedge and redesign using the “Knit Nordic” book.

If you read this entry earlier, before the pictures went up, it should be a lot clearer now with all the photos. Thanks for coming back to see them.

Last night, I learned that Linda Berry Walker, who owned Woodsedge Wools Farm with her son Brent, has died. I think she passed on last week.

Linda has been a guiding light in the fiber-farming world in New Jersey for decades. Originally, she raised sheep, but made the switch to alpacas and llamas, I think in the 1990s. She was a strong advocate of natural fibers, slow food and farming festivals such as the Hunterdon County 4H festival and the Garden State Sheep and Fiber Festival, both of which are now held on the Hunterdon County Fairgrounds in Ringoes, just a few miles from Woodsedge Farm in Stockton. Whenever I needed a source to cover either of those events, she would find time to talk with me at length about them, for which I was always grateful.

But I will always remember Linda as a spinner and knitter. Back in the 1980s, I believe she wrote for Threads when Threads still covered all fiber arts and not just sewing. I believe she designed sweaters back then, too. In more recent years, she’s won awards for the custom yarns she’s spun from Woodsedge alpaca and llama yarns, not only for the fibers but also for the colors she’s mixed and dyed them with.

Even towards the end of her life, when I visited the Woodsedge farm shop last fall to get more yarn for my Shirley sweater, Linda was helpful and cheerful, finding me four more skeins of the discontinued sport-weight alpaca I wanted to use to make the sweater (I already had several skeins, but not enough.) Although she was tired and in pain, she was still pleasant and fun to visit and talk with. I will cherish my memories of those last visits with her.

Linda fought valiantly for a couple of years against the breast cancer that took her life, and she spoke very highly of the treatment she got at the Steeplechase Cancer Care Center at Somerset Medial Center. She will be deeply missed by the Central Jersey knitting and farming communities.

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About the author

Pam MacKenzie
Our real estate editor, Pam MacKenzie, expresses her creative side in this blog about knitting. Pam learned to knit at age 6, when her friend’s mother made Pam’s doll a dress, and Pam wanted to make more. Her mother wanted her to learn how to sew in high school, but she was afraid of the sewing machines, cutting fabric the wrong way, and the potential that sewing would have for bringing down her grade-point average. Every year, she managed to find a course conflict to avoid sewing classes. But the day after high school graduation, she took her graduation money to a fabric store, bought a kit to make a sweater, taught herself to read patterns and never looked back. These days, she knits a prayer shawl every month, along with sweaters, tote bags, gift bags and other goodies. She also designs many of her projects. Read More About PamE-mail Pam